ABKAHAA 

LINCOLN 


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LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


AUTHOR'S  EDITION  OF  FIFTY  COPIES 
OF  WHICH  THIS  IS  NUMBER    ^y, 


TO  MY  WIFE 


^ 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

HIS  FRIENDSHIP  FOR  HUMANITY 
AND  SACRIFICE  FOR  OTHERS 


AN  ADDRESS  BY 

J.  B.  OAKLEAF 


DELIVERED  AT 

AUGUSTANA  COLLEGE,  ROCK  ISLAND,  ILLINOIS 

BY  INVITATION  OF  THE  FACULTY 

FEBRUARY  12,  1909 


1910 

DESAULNIERS  &  CO. 

Printers  and  Publishers 

MoLiNE,  Illinois 


i4. 


^d' 


FOREWORD 

T>  Y  special  invitation  of  the  Faculty  of  Augustana 
-■^  College,  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  this  address  on 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  delivered  on  the  occasion  of 
the  Lincoln  Centenary  exercises  held  in  the  College 
Chapel,  February  12,  1909. 

An  extended  synopsis  of  the  address  appeared 
in  the  March,  1909,  number  of  the  "Observer,"  the 
College  paper.  It  was  not  the  original  intention 
to  print  the  address  but  many  requests  for  copies 
were  received  from  those  who  had  read  the 
"Observer,"  and,  as  the  requests  could  not  be 
granted,  I  decided  to  have  the  address  printed.  In 
February,  1911,  there  was  issued  from  the  press  of 
Desaulniers  &  Co.,  of  Moline,  Illinois,  an  edition  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  copies,  the  paper  and  print 
being  the  same  as  in  this  edition  but  being  bound  in 
a  Caova  Kaiser  paper  cover,  with  a  portrait  of  Lin- 
coln on  the  cover.  The  greater  part  of  the  edition 
was  distributed  among  friends,  Lincoln  collectors 
and  historical  societies. 

Many  who  received  a  copy  of  the  address  acknowl- 
edged receipt  of  same  with  flattering  comments  on 
the  address  itself  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
printed.  I  have  selected  a  few  letters  from  among 
the  many  which  I  have  received  and  have  included 
them  in  this  edition  in  order  to  show  how  appre- 
ciative the  American  people  are  of  contributions  to 
Lincoln  literature  from  whatever  source. 

A  desire  to  preserve  my  centenary  address  on 
Lincoln  in  a  more  permanent  form  than  that  in 
which  the  first  edition  had  appeared  prompted  the 


1&3455 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


''T^HROUGH  all  the  ages  no  man  has  ever  been 
■^  accorded  the  honor  which  is  being  accorded 
Abraham  Lincoln  today.  Every  school-house  is  a 
mecca  for  the  children,  every  college  and  university 
is  holding  exercises  today  in  commemoration  of  the 
one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  Foreign  lands  are  vying  with  Lincoln's 
native  land  to  do  honor  to  his  memory.  It  is  fitting 
and  proper  that  we  gather  in  this  Chapel  this 
evening  and  repeat  the  theme  which  is  the  subject 
of  my  address  on  this  occasion,  for  in  so  doing  we 
tell  the  story  of  his  life,  recite  the  Gettysburg 
address  in  unison  and  read  that  peer  of  eulogies, 
the  editorial  of  Daniel  Willard  Fiske,  who  was  editor 
of  the  Syracuse,  New  York,  Daily  Journal,  on  the 
15th  day  of  April,  1865. 

Were  I  to  address  only  the  young  men  and  young 
ladies  of  this  audience,  I  should  want  to  confine 
myself  along  one  line,  but  as  the  audience  is  com- 
posed of  old  and  young,  some  of  whom  were  on  the 
field  of  action  during  the  memorable  days  of  the 
early  sixties,  and,  as  the  faculty  of  this  institution 

9 


has  arranged  for  the  exercises  which  are  distinctively 
in  memory  of  Lincoln,  I  shall  endeavor  to  present 
such  phases  of  Lincoln's  life,  as  in  my  opinion  will 
be  best  fitting  for  this  occasion. 

If  I  should  ask  those  in  this  audience  who  have 
read  the  complete  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  raise 
their  hands,  I  am  confident  that  many  would  not 
respond,  yet  there  is  not  one  in  this  audience  who 
is  not  familiar,  more  or  less,  with  the  life  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  for  the  reason  that  so  much  has  been  written 
in  newspapers,  magazines  and  other  periodicals 
concerning  him  that  everyone  must  have  read  a 
great  deal  about  Lincoln. 


/Lincoln         1 
The  Boy  J 


The  Boy 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  brought  up  in  penury  and 
want,  and  when  he  was  but  nine  years  old  his 
mother  died.  Like  all  frontier  boys,  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  denied  the  benefits  of  the  school. 
Schools  were  held  in  deserted  cabins  found  here 
and  there  in  the  settlement,  with  earthen  floors, 
small  holes  for  windows,  sometimes  illuminated  by 
as  much  light  as  could  penetrate  through  paper 
greased  with  lard.  The  teachers  were  usually  in 
keeping  with  their  primitive  surroundings,  as  the 
salary  was  not  sufficient  to  attract  men  of  education, 
and,  as  a  rule,  the  pupils  would,  in  a  few  months, 

10 


know  as  much  as  the  teacher.  While  in  Indiana 
Abraham  Lincoln  would  trudge  nine  miles  to  school, 
and  the  last  schooling  he  had  was  when  he  was  a 
lad  of  seventeen  years  of  age.  Up  to  that  time  his 
whole  time  spent  in  school  would  not  exceed  six 
months. 

Abraham  was  a  husky  lad,  strong  and  muscular, 
but  he  was  not  a  huntsman.  We  have  no  record, 
nor  has  anyone  been  able  to  say,  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  ever  killed  any  game,  for  he  had  too  kind 
a  heart  to  become  a  huntsman. 

While  at  Gentryville  he  made  a  trip  to  New 
Orleans  with  a  tradesman,  on  a  fiatboat  loaded 
with  produce,  and  it  was  on  this  trip  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  saw  the  possibilities  of  a  future  for  any 
young  man  who  would  be  willing  to  apply  himself. 
The  thirst  for  knowledge,  as  a  means  of  rising  in  the 
world,  became  a  kind  of  passion  in  him  and  he  left 
no  opportunity  unimproved  that  would  afford  him 
a  chance  to  learn  something  that  he  had  not  known 
before.  It  was  while  in  Indiana  that  he  read  Aesop's 
Fables,  Robinson  Crusoe,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  History 
of  the  United  States  and  Weem's  Life  of  Washing- 
ton, and  he  became  acquainted  with  the  town 
constable  who  had  a  copy  of  the  Revised  Statutes 
of  Indiana,  which  book  became  to  Lincoln  the 
loadstone  to  which  he  was  drawn  repeatedly. 


11 


/Lincoln  7 

The  Young  Man  J 

Abraham  Lincoln  attained  his  full  growth — six 
feet  and  four  inches — two  years  before  he  became  of 
age,  and  it  was  seldom  that  he  met  a  man  whom 
he  could  not  easily  handle,  if  required  to  do  so. 

In  1830,  just  as  Lincoln  had  attained  his  majority, 
he  came  to  Illinois  with  his  father  and  step-mother. 
Thomas  Lincoln,  his  father,  had  heard  of  the  prairies 
of  Illinois;  had  heard  of  the  beauties  of  the  land 
which  lay  to  the  westward;  that  it  was  possible  to 
find  hundreds  of  acres  without  a  tree  upon  them. 
Having  grown  tired  of  making  a  field  by  cutting 
down  the  trees  and  grubbing  the  stumps,  he 
decided  to  leave  for  the  rich  prairies  of  Illinois. 
It  seemed  that  Fate  guided  the  father  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  for  Abraham  Lincoln  fell  in  with  a  class 
of  people  different  from  those  whom  he  had  met  in 
Kentucky  and  Indiana.  In  Illinois,  in  close  prox- 
imity to  the  Mississippi  river,  people  from  the  far 
east  had  settled,  coming  down  the  Ohio,  thence  up 
the  Mississippi;  others  having  come  up  the  Missis- 
sippi from  New  Orleans,  and  still  others  from 
the  New  England  States  by  way  of  the  Great 
Lakes. 

IWhen  Abraham  Lincoln  attained  his  majority 
he  bade  good-bye  to  his  father  and  step-mother 
and  struck  out  into  the  world  without  a  dollar  in 

12 


his  pocket,  with  only  sufficient  clothing  to  cover  his 
nakedness,  but  with  a  heart  as  great  as  that  which 
beat  within  the  breast  of  any  man"  He  was  strong 
of  limb,  and  had  a  rugged  constitution  that  did  not 
succumb  to  the  primitive  habits  of  the  frontiermen. 
(He  was  a  welcome  guest  at  every  cabin,  at  every 
gathering,  and  it  only  took  a  short  time  for  him  to 
be  considered  the  leader  in  any  community  in  which 
he  settled?:  He  had  not  been  in  Illinois  very  long 
until  it  was  learned  that  he  had  made  a  trip  to 
New  Orleans  and  he  was  approached  by  a  man  who 
wanted  to  send  a  cargo  of  produce  to  New  Orleans 
by  way  of  the  Sangamon  and  Mississippi  rivers, 
and  Lincoln  consented  to  take  charge  of  the  cargo 
and  make  the  trip.  It  was  on  this  trip  that  he 
witnessed  an  auction  sale  of  slaves.  Standing  in 
the  slave  market  of  New  Orleans  he  beheld  a  negress 
on  the  block  being  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  The 
negress  was  a  mulatto,  with  fine  features,  showing 
a  sensitiveness  about  her  surroundings  that  was 
not  shown  by  the  others,  and  she  was,  therefore, 
singled  out  by  Lincoln  as  one  who  particularly 
felt  the  disgrace.  !At  that  time  there  was  dealt 
the  first  blow  to  slavery,  for  Abraham  Lincoln 
turned  away  with  a  sorrowful  heart  and  remarked 
with  a  vehemence  that  had  never  before  been  known 
in  Lincoln's  manner,  to  the  boys  who  were  with 
him:  "By  God,  if  I  ever  have  a  chance  to  hit  that 
thing  I  will  hit  it  hard."J    He  did  not  use  the  word 

13 


"God"  in  an  irreverent  manner,  but  he  meant  that 
if  he  ever  got  a  chance  to  hit  the  institution  of 
slavery  by  the  help  of  God  he  would  hit  it  hard. 


/Lincoln  7 

The  Soldier  J 


He  returned  to  Illinois  with  his  vision  broadened 
by  his  second  trip  to  New  Orleans.  He  saw  there 
was  to  be  a  great  awakening  in  agriculture  and  the 
professions  and  he  came  back  determined  that  he 
would  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  fit  himself  for 
any  duty  that  might  devolve  upon  him.  Imme- 
diately upon  his  return  Governor  Reynolds  issued  a 
call  for  volunteers  to  subdue  Black  Hawk,  who  was 
then  operating  in  the  Rock  river  country.  Lincoln 
thought  it  would  be  a  good  opportunity  to  see 
what  lay  to  the  north  of  him.  He  had  no  idea  of 
what  they  were  to  do,  but  he  knew  they  were  going 
out  to  fight  Indians,  and  so  he  and  a  number  of  his 
boy  friends  presented  themselves  for  enlistment, 
and  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  May,  1832,  he  and 
his  command  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Rock  river, 
and  on  the  10th  of  May,  1832,  he  was  sworn  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States.  But  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  not  a  soldier,  nor  was  he  the  son  of  a 
soldier,  nor  did  he  know  what  was  expected  of  him, 
yet  his  comrades  elected  him  captain  of  their  com- 
pany on  account  of  his  popularity.  ^  On  their  march 

14 


from  Beardstown  to  Yellow  Banks,  now  Oquawka, 
and  from  Oquawka  to  the  mouth  of  Rock  river, 
Lincoln  found  himself  in  a  dilemma  many  times  as 
to  what  kind  of  command  he  should  give  in  order 
that  his  company  should  make  a  certain  move,  but 
he  was  a  tactful  man,  as  he  was  in  later  years.  When 
they  came  up  to  a  high  rail  fence  where  there  was 
a  small  opening,  he  could  not  think  of  the  word  of 
command  in  order  to  get  his  men  through  the  open- 
ing in  single  file,  so  he  called  a  halt  and  dismissed 
them,  with  the  request  that  they  should  assemble 
on  the  other  side  of  the  fence.  The  chances  are 
that  he  got  them  through  quicker  than  if  he  had 
used  the  proper  command. 

After  being  elected  President  he  told  of  an  inci- 
dent that  occurred  while  he  was  in  camp  on  Rock 
river.  At  a  ball  at  the  White  House  thieves  made 
off  with  many  of  the  hats  and  overcoats  of  the 
guests,  so  that  when  ready  to  take  leave  Vice- 
president  Hamlin's  head  covering  was  not  to  be 
found. 

"I'll  tell  you  what,  Hamlin,"  said  a  friend,  "early 
in  the  evening  I  saw  a  man,  possessed  of  keen  fore- 
sight, hide  his  hat  upstairs.  I  am  sure  he  would 
be  willing  to  donate  it  to  the  administration,  and 
I  will  go  and  get  it  for  you." 

When  the  hat  was  produced  it  was  found  to  be 
very  much  after  the  style  of  Hamlin's  hat,  but  it 
bore  a  badge  of  mourning,  which  emblem  the  Vice- 

15 


president  ripped  off  with  his  penknife.  The  party 
stood  chatting  merrily  as  they  waited  for  the  car- 
riages to  be  driven  up,  when  a  man  stepped  directly 
in  front  of  Mr.  Hamlin  and  stood  staring  at  the 
"tile"  with  which  his  head  was  covered. 

"What  are  you  looking  at,  sir?"  asked  Hamlin 
sharply. 

"Your  hat,"  answered  the  man  mildly.     "If  it 
had  a  weed  on  it,  I  should  say  it  was  mine." 

"Well,  it  hasn't  got  a  weed  on  it,  has  it?"  asked 
the  Vice-president. 

"No,  sir,"  said  the  hatless  man,  "it  hasn't." 

"Then  it  isn't  your  hat,  is  it?"  said  the  proud 
possessor  of  it. 

"No,  I  guess  not,"  said  the  man  as  he  turned  to 
walk  away. 

When  this  little  incident  was  explained  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  he  laughed  heartily  and  said: 

"That  reminds  me,  Hamlin,  of  the  'stub-tailed 
cow.' 

"It  was  a  long  time  ago,  when  I  was  pioneering 
and  soldiering  in  Illinois  (1832),  and  we  put  up  a 
joke  on  some  officers  of  the  United  States  army. 
My  party  and  I  were  a  long  way  off  from  the  com- 
forts of  civilized  life,  and  our  only  neighbors  were 
the  garrison  of  a  United  States  fort.  We  did  pretty 
well  for  rations,  had  plenty  of  salt  meat  and  flour, 
but  milk  was  not  to  be  had  for  love  or  money; 
and  as  we  all  longed  for  that  delicacy,  we  thought 

16 


it  pretty  mean  that  the  officers  of  the  fort,  who  had 
two  cows — a  stub-tailed  one  and  a  black  and  white 
one — offered  us  no  milk,  though  we  threw  out  many 
and  strong  hints  that  it  would  be  acceptable.  At 
last,  after  much  consultation,  we  decided  to  teach 
them  a  lesson  and  to  borrow  or  steal  one  of  those 
cows,  just  as  you  choose  to  put  it.  But  how  it 
could  be  done  mthout  the  cow  being  at  once  identi- 
fied and  recovered  was  the  question. 

"At  last  we  hit  on  a  plan.  One  of  our  party  was 
dispatched  a  day's  ride  to  the  nearest  slaughter- 
house, where  he  procured  a  long  red  cow's  tail  to 
match  the  color  of  the  stub-tailed  cow.  After 
possessing  ourselves  of  this  animal,  we  neatly  tied 
our  purchase  to  the  poor  stub,  and  with  appetites 
whetted  by  long  abstinence  we  drank  and  relished 
the  sweet  milk  which  'our  cow'  gave.  A  few  days 
afterwards  we  were  honored  by  a  call  from  the  com- 
mander of  the  fort. 

"  'Say,  boys,'  said  he,  'we  have  lost  one  of  our 
cows.'  Of  course  we  felt  very  sorry  and  expressed 
our  regret  accordingly.  'But,'  continued  the 
commander,  'I  came  over  to  say  that  if  that 
cow  of  yours  had  a  stub  tail,  I  should  say  it  was 
ours.' 

"'But  she  hasn't  a  stub  tail,  has  she?'  asked  we, 
sure  of  our  point. 

"  'No,'  said  the  officer,  'she  certainly  has  not  a 
stub  tail.' 

17 


"  'Well,  she  isn't  your  cow  then,'  and  our  argument 
was  unanswerable,  as  was  Hamlin's." 

The  term  of  service  for  which  Lincoln  and  the 
rest  of  the  volunteers  had  enlisted  being  now  ended, 
a  large  number  re-enlisted  and  among  them  was 
Abraham  Lincoln.  At  the  time  of  his  second 
enlistment  he  was  sworn  into  the  service  by  none 
other  than  the  gallant  Robert  Anderson,  who  was 
in  charge  of  Fort  Sumter  when  the  flag  that  Lincoln 
loved  so  well  was  fired  upon  by  one  of  its  own. 
This  bright,  energetic,  young  lieutenant  did  not 
then  realize  that  the  tall  uncouth  youth,  standing 
six  feet  and  four  inches,  would  be  the  occupant  of 
the  White  House  thirty  years  later,  but  so  it  is 
with  this  ever-revolving  wheel  of  chance,  showing 
new  phases,  presenting  new  things  never  thought 
of  before. 

The  Black  Hawk  war  finally  came  to  an  end  and 
Lincoln  never  saw  the  enemy  as  he  subsequently 
said  he  never  came  close  enough  to  smell  powder. 
Black  Hawk  had  surrendered  and  the  Rock  river 
country  was  cleared  of  the  invader. 


/Lincoln  1 

The  Politician  J 


Lincoln  had  no  sooner  returned  to  his  home  in 
the  Sangamon  bottorns  than  he  became  a  candidate 
for  the  legislature.    This  was  a  new  role  to  Lincoln, 

18 


but  one  that  he  accepted  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure 
for  it  was  a  delight  to  him  to  mingle  with  the  people. 
He  was,  as  the  politician  says,  "a  good  mixer,"  yet 
he  never  drank  and  never  smoked,  so  that  he  could 
not  in  an  off-hand  way  hand  a  cigar  to  a  friend 
and  ask  him  to  have  a  smoke  with  him,  nor  could 
he  ask  a  friend  to  go  to  a  bar  and  take  a  drink,  but 
he  had  ways  far  more  effective  than  theseTi  He  was 
defeated  the  first  time  he  ran  for  the  office,  but 
it  was  always  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  him  to 
know  that  everyone  of  the  boys  who  went  with 
him  to  the  Rock  river  country  voted  for  him.  He 
was  subsequently  elected  and  served  with  honor 
in  the  legislature.  He  favored  "internal  improve- 
ments" which  question  was  then  agitating  the  minds 
of  the  people. 


/Lincoln  1 

The  SurvemrJ 


The  Surveyor. 

But  the  legislative  honors  were  not  lucrative 
and  he  resorted  to  many  other  means  of  gaining 
a  livelihood,  such  as  keeping  a  store,  which  ended 
in  disaster,  working  for  others  for  small  pay, 
and  finally  he  took  up  surveying.  It  is  stated  that 
he  had  no  money  with  which  to  buy  surveying 
instruments  and  that  his  first  chain  was  a  grape- 
vine, but  as  land  was  cheap  and  there  were  no 
difficult  boundaries  to  settle,  the  grape-vine  answered 

19 


the  purpose  for  awhile.  It  is  a  queer  coincidence 
that  our  first  President  should  also  be  a  surveyor; 
that  Washington  and  Lincoln,  the  two  men  who 
stand  uppermost  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  as 
Presidents  of  the  United  States,  should  begin  life 
by  surveying.  But  when  we  realize  that  they  were 
both  in  new  countries,  that  the  demand  was  made 
upon  someone  who  was  able  to  run  the  lines  and 
locate  corners,  it  is  no  wonder  that  when  there 
was  a  person  in  a  community  who  was  capable  of 
doing  it  he  should  be  sought  after  and  urged  to 
assume  such  duties. 

Lincoln  was  not  a  speculator;  never  owned  but 
one  piece  of  real  estate  in  this  state,  and  that  was 
his  home  in  Springfield.  He  was  very  much  unlike 
a  certain  man  whom  he  had  appointed  to  a  position 
in  the  General  Land  Office,  and  who  was  also  a 
surveyor,  but  who  used  his  position  as  a  means  of 
getting  considerable  land.  Lincoln  heard  of  it,  and, 
knowing  that  the  man  had  been  doing  surveying 
on  the  side,  in  addition  to  surveying  for  the  public, 
Lincoln  looked  at  him  with  a  quizzical  eye  and 
said  to  him:  "I  understand  you  are  monarch  of  all 
you  survey."  The  thrust  went  home.  The  man 
resigned  his  position. 

About  this  time  in  Lincoln's  career  occurred 
something  which  was  unusual  to  Lincoln  but  not 
unusual  to  the  average  young  man.  I  think  all 
young  men  have  to  go  through  such  an  experience 

20 


and  they  are  the  better  for  it;  they  become  better 

men;  they  have  a  better  conception  of  Hfe.     Lincoln 

bestowed   his   affection   upon   Ann   Rutledge,   who 

will  never  be  forgotten  because  her  name  was  linked 

with  the  immortal  Lincoln.     She  died  in  1835  and 

when   her   remains   were   lowered   into    the   grave 

Lincoln's   heart    was    broken.     He    never   referred 

to  Ann  Rutledge  but  that  a  tear  came  into  his  eye. 

She  was  a  good  girl  and  would  have  made  him  an 

excellent    wife,    but    Fate    decreed    otherwise.     It 

was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Lincoln  first  read  the 

poem  by  William  Knox  in  which  he  saw  so  much 

beauty,  and  when  he  would  visit  the  grave  of  Ann 

Rutledge  the  lines  would  come  to  him: 

"Oh!  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud 
Like  a  swift-fleeting  meteor,  a  fast  flying  cloud, 
A  flash  of  the  lightning,  a  break  of  the  wave, 
He  passeth  from  life  to  his  rest  in  the  grave." 

Her  grave  is  marked  by  a  boulder,  placed  there 
by  some  kind  friend,  and  on  the  face  is  chiseled 
"Ann  Rutledge,"  and  no  one  can  stand  by  the  side 
of  that  boulder  without  feeling  that  he  is  very  close 
to  the  soul  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 


/Lincoln  1 

The  Lawyer  J 


The  Lawyer . 

Lincoln  did  not  consider  that  the  work  he  was 
doing  was  in  keeping  with  his  ideas  and  he  began 
to  read  law  and  was  finally  admitted  to  the  bar. 

21 


But  he  felt  that  he  must  make  his  home  at  the 
Capitoh  He  went  to  Springfield  and  met  his  old 
friend  Speed,  told  him  what  he  intended  to  do, 
figured  what  it  would  cost  to  fit  up  a  room  and  it 
amounted  to  $17.00,  which  was  beyond  his  means. 
All  he  had  with  him  were  the  saddlebags  in  which 
he  had  stored  away  his  belongings,  and  he  had  rid- 
den into  Springfield  on  a  borrowed  horse.  He  told 
Speed  of  his  predicament.  Speed  looked  at  him, 
felt  sorry  for  him  and  told  him  he  had  a  room  up- 
stairs that  was  large  enough  for  both  of  them  and 
that  he  could  occupy  it  in  company  with  him  if  he 
wanted  to.  Lincoln  went  upstairs,  looked  at  the 
room,  came  back  and  said,  "Speed,  I  have  moved." 
Such  was  Lincoln's  entrance  into  the  Capitol  of 
the  State  of  lUinois,  in  1837.  He  was  a  Whig 
elector  on  the  Harrison  ticket  in  1840,  and  was 
elected  to  Congress  in  the  fall  of  1846,  and  at  the 
close  of  his  term,  in  the  spring  of  1849,  he  went  back 
to  Springfield  fully  intending  to  quit  politics  and 
take  up  law  in  earnest.  He  had  been  at  the  Capitol 
of  the  nation;  he  had  seen  there  what  he  had  not 
seen  at  home;  he  met  and  conversed  with  educated 
men,  he  saw  affluence  on  every  hand,  whereas  at 
home  he  saw  only  poverty.  He  realized  that  these 
men  would  be  coming  westward  and  that  he  would 
have  to  cope  with  other  talent  than  the  frontiermen; 
that  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  equip  himself  for 
the  day  when  he  would  have  to  meet  these  men 

22 


face  to  face  in  forensic  battles.  And  from  that  time 
until  1856  Lincoln  was  out  of  politics.  But  during 
this  time  his  mind  had  become  broadened.  He  was 
then  considered  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  of  the 
State.  He  met  and  vanquished  the  best  talent  that 
was  to  be  found.  He  was  now  counted  an  antagonist 
who  must  be  reckoned  with,  and  his  legal  services 
were  in  demand.  He  became  acquainted  with  David 
Davis,  0.  H.  Browning,  Leonard  Swett,  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  S.  T.  Logan,  Lyman  Trumble  and  a 
score  of  others.  In  every  county  seat  from  Peoria 
to  the  south  of  Springfield,  from  the  Mississippi  to 
the  eastern  border  of  the  State,  he  was  known,  and 
not  a  term  of  court  in  any  of  these  circuits  would 
pass  but  that  Lincoln's  services  were  in  demand. 
To  give  an  idea  of  the  men  he  had  to  meet,  I  will 
relate  an  incident  which  occurred  in  1842.  Joseph 
Smith,  who  was  then  a  Mormon  Prophet  living 
at  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  the  Mormon  stronghold  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  had  been  arrested  and 
was  wanted  by  a  sheriff  from  Missouri,  and  the 
chances  were  that  if  they  had  got  him  into  Missouri 
they  would  have  railroaded  him  to  the  scaffold. 
Smith  was  charged  with  having  instigated  an 
attempt  by  some  Mormons  to  assassinate  Governor 
Boggs,  of  Missouri.  Mr.  Butterfield,  one  of  the 
ablest  lawyers  of  Chicago,  on  behalf  of  Smith,  sued 
out  from  Judge  Pope  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and 
Smith  was  brought  before  the  United  States  District 

23 


Court  at  Springfield.  On  the  hearing  it  clearly- 
appeared  that  he  had  not  been  in  Missouri,  nor  out 
of  Illinois  within  the  time  in  which  the  crime  had 
been  committed,  and  that  if  he  had  any  connection 
with  the  offense  the  acts  must  have  been  done  in 
Illinois.  Was  he  then  a  fugitive  from  justice? 
Mr.  Lamborn,  the  attorney- general  of  Illinois, 
appeared  on  behalf  of  the  people.  Mr.  Butterfield 
moved  for  the  discharge  of  Smith.  The  "Prophet," 
so-called,  was  attended  by  his  twelve  Apostles  and 
a  large  number  of  his  followers  and  the  case  excited 
great  interest.  The  court  room  was  thronged 
with  prominent  members  of  the  bar  and  public  men. 
Judge  Pope  was  a  gallant  gentleman  of  the  old 
school  and  loved  nothing  better  than  to  be  in  the 
midst  of  youth  and  beauty.  Seats  were  crowded 
on  the  Judge's  platform,  on  both  sides  and  behind 
him,  and  an  array  of  brilliant  and  beautiful  ladies 
almost  encircled  the  Court.  Mr.  Butterfield,  dressed 
a  la  Webster,  in  blue  dress  coat  and  metal  buttons, 
with  a  buff  vest,  arose  with  dignity  and  in  pro- 
found silence.  Pausing  and  running  his  eyes  admir- 
ingly from  the  central  figure  of  Judge  Pope  along 
the  rows  of  lovely  women  on  each  side  of  him,  he 
said:  "May  it  please  the  Court,  I  appear  before 
you  today  under  circumstances  most  novel  and 
peculiar.  I  am  to  address  the  Pope  (bowing  to 
the  Judge)  surrounded  by  angels  (bowing  still  lower 
to  the  ladies)  in  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Apostles 

24 


•n 


in  behalf  of  the  Prophet  of  the  Lord."  Can  you 
imagine  Abraham  Lincoln  in  such  presence,  such 
surroundings?  It  does  not  appear  that  he  took 
part  in  the  case  but  he  was  no  doubt  there  for  it 
was  in  the  city  of  Springfield  and  he  was  interested 
as  well  as  others.  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the 
"angels"  referred  to.  Lincoln  never  omitted  an 
opportunity  to  hear  a  speech.  At  one  time  E.  D. 
Baker,  an  old  friend  of  his,  was  making  a  speech 
and  Lincoln  was  occupying  an  office  on  the  second 
floor  and  there  was  a  trap-door  right  over  the  plat- 
form where  Mr.  Baker  was  speaking.  Lincoln 
opened  the  trap-door  and  stretched  himself  out  on 
the  floor,  and,  looking  down  through  the  hole,  was 
listening  to  the  speech.  There  was  a  gang  of  rowdies 
in  the  hall  who  intended  to  break  up  the  meeting. 
The  Whig  doctrine,  announced  by  Baker,  was  not 
in  harmony  with  their  ideas  and  they  were  about  to 
pull  the  speaker  off  the  platform.  Lincoln  thought 
it  was  time  for  him  to  take  a  hand  and  he  let  himself 
down  through  the  trap-door  and  dropped  to  the 
platform,  much  to  the  amazement  of  the  crowd. 
He  assumed  a  belligerent  attitude,  and  told  them 
that  this  was  a  free  country  and  Mr.  Baker  should 
be  allowed  to  finish  and  then  if  any  of  them  wanted 
to  say  anything  they  could  use  the  platform  as  long 
as  they  desired.     Baker  finished  his  speech. 

To  show  Lincoln's  tact  and  wit  I  may  mention 
that  one  time  when  he  was  a  candidate  for  the 

25 


legislature  the  Democrats  had  secured  the  services 
of  one  Forquer,  a  very  able  speaker  and  a  very  fine 
looking  man  who  dressed  with  excellent  taste.  He 
had,  however,  left  the  Whig  party  and  gone  over  to 
the  Democratic  party  for  the  sake  of  an  office  and  he 
had  ridiculed  Lincoln  a  great  deal.  It  was  just  a 
little  more  than  Lincoln  could  stand.  This  man 
Forquer  had  recently  built  a  fine  house  in  Springfield 
on  the  site  occupied  by  the  new  Supreme  Court  build- 
ing, one  of  the  finest  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and 
had  equipped  it  with  lightning  rods,  the  first  lightning 
rods  that  some  of  the  people  had  seen,  and  the 
house  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention.  People 
would  come  miles  to  take  a  look  at  that  house  and 
the  lightning  rods  and  hear  the  comments  of  the 
people  as  to  what  the  lightning  rods  were  supposed 
to  do.  When  Lincoln  got  up  to  reply  he  stood  very 
calm  but  his  eyes  flashed  with  anger,  his  pale  cheeks 
indicating  his  indignation,  and  he  commenced  his 
speech  by  saying:  "I  am  informed  that  this  gentle- 
man has  said  that  he  intended  to  take  this  young 
man  down,  alluding  to  me,  but  I  will  state  that  I 
am  not  as  young  in  years  as  I  am  in  the  tricks  and 
trades  of  the  politician.  But,"  said  he,  pointing  his 
long,  bony  finger  at  Forquer,  "live  long  or  die 
young,  I  would  rather  die  now,  than,  like  the 
gentleman,  change  my  politics  and  with  the  change 
receive  an  office  worth  $3,000.00  a  year  and  then 
feel   obliged    to    erect    a   lightning    rod    over   my 

26 


house    to   protect    a    guilty    conscience    from    an 
offended  God." 

As  stated  before,  when  Lincoln's  congressional 
term  ended  he  returned  to  Springfield  with  the 
intention  of  giving  up  politics,  but  the  country  would 
not  allow  him  to  remain  dormant  very  long  and  he 
was  soon  compelled  to  come  out  and  take  a  part  in 
the  fight  that  was  being  waged.  New  questions 
arose  that  demanded  attention,  because  at  this  time 
the  slave  power  had  been  at  work,  like  a  gigantic 
devil  fish,  reaching  out  its  tentacles  in  all  directions, 
seeking  to  gain  territory  here,  to  gain  a  foothold  there 
in  order  to  spread  the  curse  of  slavery. 


/Ldncoln  7 

The  Leader  J 


In  1819  to  1821  a  most  determined  resistance 
was  made  to  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  slave 
state  and  it  was  finally  settled  by  what  is  known  as 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  carried  through  Congress 
largely  by  the  personal  influence  of  Henry  Clay. 
By  this  compromise  Missouri  was  admitted  as  a 
slave  state  with  a  law  providing  that  all  the  western 
territory  north  of  the  parallel  of  latitude  36°,  30' 
should  be  forever  free.  The  conflict  between  the 
free  and  the  slave  states  was  terminated  in  favor 
of  the  slave  holders  in  the  form  of  this  compromise, 
which  for  a  long  time  was  considered  sacred  by  all 

27 


parties.  If  Missouri  had  at  that  time  come  in  as 
a  free  state  it  probably  would  have  been  decisive 
and  would  have  given  the  balance  of  power  to  the 
North,  and  perhaps  it  might  have  saved  the  republic 
from  the  great  civil  war. 

The  Whigs  in  1850  took  the  position  that  the 
slavery  question  was  settled  by  the  compromise 
of  1821  and  should  not  be  re-opened,  and  the  policy 
had  the  approval  of  President  Fillmore.  But  in 
1854  the  enemy  showed  itself  above  the  horizon  of 
the  Missouri  compromise  and  demanded  its  repeal 
by  what  is  known  as  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill. 
This  bill  which  would  repeal  the  Missouri  com- 
promise was  strongly  supported  by  Douglas,  who, 
only  five  years  before,  had  said:  "The  Missouri 
compromise  is  akin  to  the  Constitution  and  canon- 
ized in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  as  a  sacred 
thing  which  no  ruthless  hand  would  ever  be  reckless 
enough  to  disturb."  Kansas  was  admitted  and  the 
Missouri  compromise  question  was  repealed  in 
that  the  new  states  sheuld  decide  by  a  vote  of  their 
own  people  whether  or  not  they  should  be  free  or 
whether  they  should  be  slave  states;  what  followed 
is  well  known.  Kansas  had  to  fight  for  its  admission 
to  the  Union  and  on  its  escutcheon  is  inscribed 
"Ad  Astra  per  Aspera,"  to  the  stars  through  diffi- 
culties. The  slave  holders  from  every  city  of 
Missouri  ran  thousands  of  men  over  the  borders, 
and  the   Lecompton   Constitution  was   the   result, 

28 


made  possible  by  illegal  votes.  By  reason  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise  the  Republican 
party  became  a  necessity  and  the  loyal  Whigs, 
the  free-soil  men,  loyal  and  free-soil  Democrats, 
organized  the  Republican  party. 

In  1858  the  Republicans  put  their  second  state 
ticket  in  the  field  and  Abraham  Lincoln  was  at  the 
convention.  The  convention  was  held  at  Spring- 
field. Mr.  Wharton,  who  was  then  a  citizen  of 
Rock  Island,  and  the  editor  of  the  Rock  Island 
Advertiser,  a  staunch  Whig  paper,  and  he  himself 
a  staunch  Wliig,  was  a  delegate  from  Rock  Island 
county,  holding  a  proxy  from  Joseph  Knox,  a 
Democrat  who  was  a  strong  supporter  of  Douglas. 
Mr,  Knox  had  been  elected  as  a  delegate  but  did 
not  feel  that  he  should  show  his  hand,  and,  therefore, 
gave  his  proxy  to  Mr,  Wharton.  Mr.  Wharton 
was  at  Springfield  and  sat  on  the  steps  of  the  platform. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  called  out  and  made  a  speech. 
When  he  finished  he  sat  down  by  the  side  of  Mr. 
Wharton  and  asked  his  opinion  about  it.  These 
facts  I  have  in  a  letter  that  was  recently  written  me 
by  Mr.  Wharton,  who  is  now  residing  in  California. 
Mr.  Lincoln  asked  Mr.  Wharton  what  he  thought  of 
the  speech  and  the  latter  replied:  "It  is  not  the 
best  you  can  do  and  I  think  the  people  want  more 
and  I  know  you  are  able  to  do  it."  Mr,  Lincoln 
then  asked  Mr,  Wharton  to  write  a  resolution  and 
present  it  commendatory  of  the  ticket  which  had 

29 


been  named  and  said  he  would  support  the  resolution 
and  make  some  added  remarks.  In  these  added 
remarks  he  made  the  famous  speech  known  as  "A 
house  divided  against  itself"  speech.  He  then  said: 
"A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand."  He 
referred  to  the  slave  and  the  free  states.  He  saw 
the  inevitable  conflict.  He  saw  the  war  cloud  on 
the  horizon.  He  saw  the  storm  approaching.  He 
fully  reahzed  that  it  would  not  be  long  until  the 
slave  power  would  demand  its  mess  of  pottage,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  cannon  if  need  be.  There  was 
the  groom  and  there  was  the  bride.  They  had  for 
nearly  three  quarters  of  a  century  lived  in  peace 
and  harmony;  a  little  trouble  on  the  surface  now 
and  then,  but  not  sufficient  to  mar  the  welfare  of 
the  nation,  but  now  he  saw  that  they  were  being 
separated,  that  they  could  not  agree  and  that  the 
house  was  being  divided  and  that  it  was  impossible 
for  it  to  stand. 

In  1858  the  celebrated  Lincoln-Douglas  debates 
took  place  and  Lincoln  became  famous.  We  have, 
during  the  past  summer  and  fall,  been  celebrating 
the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  these  debates,  and  men 
who  heard  the  Lincoln- Douglas  debates  were 
honorary  guests  at  the  exercises. 

Lincoln  was  defeated  for  the  senate,  Douglas 
was  triumphantly  elected;  although  Lincoln  had 
received  the  popular  vote  of  the  state,  the  state  was 
so  gerrymandered  that  Douglas  received  the  ma- 

30 


jority  of  the  members  of  the  legislature.  After  his 
election  in  1859,  Douglas  made  a  triumphant  tour 
to  Washington,  going  down  the  Mississippi  to  New- 
Orleans  around  by  steamer  to  Washington.  Every 
city  of  note  announced  his  coming  by  the  blowing 
of  the  whistles  and  ringing  of  bells.  He  was  dined 
and  wined  everywhere  and  was  hailed  as  a  hero,  but 
Douglas  knew  that  his  career  would  be  short,  for 
he,  too,  had  seen  the  coming  of  the  inevitable 
conflict  and  that  he  could  not  and  would  not  insult 
the  flag. 

One  of  the  crowning  events  of  Abraham  Lincoln's 
career,  as  it  seems  to  us  now,  was  the  invitation 
that  he  received  in  the  winter  of  1860  from  a  com- 
pany of  young  men  who  had  arranged  a  lyceum 
course  in  Brooklyn,  and  who  had  invited  Lincoln 
to  come  to  Brooklyn  and  deliver  a  speech.  They 
had  heard  of  him  in  the  east.  His  debates  with 
Douglas  had  made  his  name  known  over  the  whole 
country  and  they  were  anxious  to  have  this  man  of 
the  prairies  come  and  talk  to  them.  He  went,  but 
upon  his  arrival  there  he  found  he  was  not  to  speak 
in  Brooklyn,  as  he  supposed  (I  think,  in  Beecher's 
Church),  but  they  had  arranged  to  have  the  meeting 
take  place  at  Cooper  Institute.  On  the  27th  of 
February,  1860,  Abraham  Lincoln  found  himself 
a  guest  at  the  Astor  House  in  New  York  City.  A 
committee  called  on  him  and  told  him  where  he 
was  to  speak  and  it  was  then  he  learned  that  he 

31 


was  to  speak  at  the  Cooper  Institute.  He  had  his 
carpet  bag  with  him.  He  had  bought  a  new  suit 
of  clothes  before  leaving  home  and  had  crowded 
them  into  the  carpet  bag.  They  were  not  such  a 
fit  as  the  young  men  in  this  audience  would  be  satis- 
fied with.  If  a  boy  should  come  to  this  college  with 
as  ill-fitting  clothes  as  Lincoln  wore  that  day  he 
would  be  jeered  from  the  time  he  reached  the  build- 
ing until  he  left  at  the  close  of  his  studies.  But 
clothes  do  not  make  a  man,  and  it  did  not  affect 
Lincoln.  At  Cooper  Institute  he  met  many  men 
of  whom  he  had  read.  There  was  William  Cullen 
Bryant,  who  presided;  there  w^as  Horace  Greeley; 
there  was  Mr.  Field,  and  there  were  fifty  or  more 
prominent  men  on  the  platform.  The  audience 
was  not  large  for  the  night  was  very  stormy,  but 
those  who  came  out  came  to  hear  a  man  who  was 
making  a  name  for  himself  and  making  a  name  for 
his  country.  He  held  his  audience  spellbound. 
No  stories,  no  foolishness;  but  he  started  out  from 
the  beginning  as  a  lawyer  would  argue  a  case  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  In  the 
afternoon  a  reporter  from  the  Tribune  asked  him 
whether  or  not  he  had  any  manuscript.  Lincoln 
handed  him  his  speech.  It  was  set  up  in  type  that 
afternoon  and  that  manuscript  was  thrown  into  "the 
waste  basket.  If  that  manuscript  could  be  had 
today  it  would  sell  for  $10,000.00  at  auction.  So 
this  would  make  another  point  for  Russell  Conwell's 

32 


lecture  "Acres  of  Diamonds."  Lincoln  spoke  with- 
out manuscript.  He  had  his  matter  well  in  hand 
and  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  for  more  than 
two  hours  he  held  his  audience  as  no  man  had  ever 
held  an  audience  before  in  that  building.  Yet  none 
of  those  men  who  occupied  the  platform  deigned 
to  accompany  Lincoln  to  his  hotel  after  his  speech. 
Some  of  the  young  men  who  had  charge  of  the  meet- 
ing took  him  to  a  club-room  where  they  had  a 
luncheon  and  after  they  had  lunched  Lincoln  started 
for  the  Astor  House.  He  asked  to  be  shown  the 
way,  so  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Mr.  Nott, 
who  is  still  living,  said  he  was  going  that  way  and 
would  take  him  there.  On  the  way  down  Mr.  Nott 
noticed  that  Lincoln  limped  and  asked  him  if  he 
was  lame  and  Lincoln  replied,  "I  have  a  new  pair 
of  boots  on  and  they  have  chafed  my  heel  until 
my  foot  is  very  sore."  Then  Mr.  Nott  suggested 
that  they  get  on  a  street  car,  which  they  did,  but 
before  arriving  at  the  Astor  House  Mr.  Nott's  street 
was  reached  and  he  told  Lincoln  to  remain  on  the 
car  and  the  conductor  would  announce  the  Astor 
House  as  the  street  car  passed  the  hotel. 

Such  was  the  reception  given  Abraham  Lincoln,  in 
New  York  City,  in  1860.  A  year  later  the  streets 
were  crowded  with  people  eager  to  get  a  glimpse  of 
the  newly  elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Nott  and  a  Mr.  Brainard  (Mr.  Brainard  is 
still  living  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him 

33 


a  year  ago  in  New  York)  arranged  to  have  the 
Cooper  Institute  speech  published  in  pamphlet 
form  and  well  annotated,  and  when  they  began 
to  annotate  his  speech  they  found  that  there  was 
not  a  library  in  the  city  of  New  York  that  could 
furnish  them  with  the  authorities  necessary,  and 
they  could  not  imagine  how  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
able,  with  the  limited  libraries  to  be  found  in  the 
west,  to  get  up  and  present  such  a  strong  array  of 
facts ;  so  they  wrote  to  Mr.  Lincoln  for  his  brief  and 
he  replied  that  he  had  none. 

The  learned  men  on  the  platform  at  Cooper 
Institute  could  have  said  of  him  what  was  said  of 
the  lowly  Nazarene  eighteen  centuries  before: 
"From  whence  did  this  man  get  his  wisdom,  from 
whom  did  he  gain  his  knowledge?"  For  they  knew 
he  had  not  sat  at  the  feet  of  a  master. 

There  hangs  on  the  walls  of  Brasenose  College, 
Oxford  University,  an  engrossed  copy  of  a  letter 
written  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  November  21st,  1864,  to 
Mrs.  Bixby,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  who  had 
lost  five  sons  on  the  field  of  battle,  as  a  specimen  of 
the  purest  English  and  most  elegant  diction  extant. 

After  a  short  trip,  during  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
visited  some  of  the  principal  cities  in  the  New 
England  States,  he  returned  to  his  home  in  Spring- 
field and  immediately  thereafter  steps  were  taken 
by  his  friends  to  present  his  name  to  the  Republican 
convention  that  would  convene  in  May  at  Chicago. 

34 


It  was  necessary  for  him  to  have  a  solid  delegation 
from  his  own  state  and  that  was  brought  about 
with  very  little  difficulty,  and  with  a  solid  state 
delegation  behind  him  his  friends  felt  confident 
of  his  nomination  at  the  convention.  If  the  con- 
vention had  been  held  in  New  York,  or  any  of  the 
eastern  cities,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have 
nominated  Lincoln,  but  it  was  so  decreed  that  he 
should  have  the  support  of  his  own  state  in  order 
to  win  out,  and,  after  a  two-day  struggle  in  the 
convention,  during  which  time  the  Illinois  delegation 
was  very  busy,  Lincoln  was  victorious  and  Illinois' 
favored  son  was  at  the  November  election  elevated 
to  the  highest  position  in  the  gift  of  the  nation. 
Election  being  over,  the  task  of  preparation  for 
removal  to  Washington  to  assume  the  heavy  burden 
which  had  been  placed  upon  his  shoulders  was  begun. 
The  South  was  dissatisfied  with  the  election.  They 
were  not  willing  to  abide  by  the  result  and  the  war 
cloud  which  Lincoln  had  predicted  years  before 
began  to  show  itself  upon  the  southern  horizon. 


/Lincoln  1 

The  President  J 


Lincoln  was  to  leave  the  scenes  of  his  early 
struggles,  and  standing  on  the  rear  platform  of 
the  coach  which  was  to  carry  him  to  Washington, 
and   looking  down   into    the   faces    of   his   friends 

35 


who  had   congregated  there  to  bid  him  farewell, 
he  said: 

*'My  friends,  no  one  not  in  my  situation  can 
appreciate  my  feeling  of  sadness  at  this  parting. 
To  this  place,  and  the  kindness  of  these  people,  I 
owe  everything.  Here  I  have  lived  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  and  have  passed  from  a  young  to  an  old 
man.  Here  my  children  have  been  born,  and  one 
is  buried.  I  now  leave,  not  knowing  when  or 
whether  I  ever  may  return,  with  a  task  before  me 
greater  than  that  which  rested  upon  Washington. 
Without  the  assistance  of  that  Divine  Being  who 
ever  attended  him,  I  cannot  succeed.  With  that 
assistance,  I  cannot  fail.  Trusting  in  Him,  who 
can  go  with  me  and  remain  with  you,  and  be  every- 
where for  good,  let  us  confidently  hope  that  all 
will  yet  be  well.  To  His  care  commending  you,  as 
I  hope  in  your  prayers  you  will  commend  me,  I 
bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell." 

Can  you  imagine  how  heavy  his  heart  must  have 
been  as  the  train  sped  away  from  all  that  had  been 
near  and  dear  to  him?  He  did  not  expect  to  return, 
for  he  felt  that  he  was  rushing  into  a  maelstrom  of 
civil  war  and  what  the  end  would  be  no  one  could 
foresee.  He  assumed  the  duties  of  Chief  Magistrate 
of  the  nation  and  surrounded  himself  with  men  of 
honor  and  of  integrity  as  his  advisers,  selecting  them 
from  different  portions  of  the  country  and  of  different 
political  beliefs,  and  among  them  were  competitors 

36 


for  the  honor  of  the  presidential  nomination  at 
Chicago.  There  were  those  who  felt  that  upon 
their  shoulders  must  rest  the  responsibility  of  the 
nation  and  not  upon  the  shoulders  of  him  who  was 
at  the  nation's  head,  but  they  very  soon  learned 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  President  and  they  were 
his  advisers. 

The  war  came  and  Lincoln  proved  himself  equal 
to  the  task.  The  enemy  was  not  the  severest  foe 
with  whom  the  President  had  to  contend  for  he 
found  that  his  cabinet  was  honeycombed  with  deceit 
and  his  generals  were  quarreling  among  themselves. 
But  through  all  Lincoln  pursued  the  even  tenor  of 
his  way,  bearing  his  burdens  with  that  fortitude 
the  equal  of  which  had  never  been  known.  I  may 
mention  that  Seward,  who  was  the  best  educated 
man  of  the  cabinet,  and  who  occupied  the  post  of 
secretary  of  state,  felt  that  he  must  be  the  diplomat 
and  to  him  Lincoln  must  look  for  that  peculiar 
phraseology  of  state  papers  which  was  necessary 
to  be  promulgated.  At  one  time  Lincoln,  in  a 
state  paper,  used  the  word  "sugar-coated"  and 
Seward  remonstrated  with  him  and  said,  "Mr. 
President,  you  must  remember  that  you  are  not 
now  addressing  a  paper  to  a  lot  of  back-woodsmen 
or  frontiermen,  but  this  paper  will  become  a 
part  of  the  archives  of  the  nation  and  I  would 
suggest  that  you  erase  these  words  and  substitute 
something  more  elegant."     Lincoln  replied  :    "  My 

37 


dear  Secretary,  no  one  who  will  follow  us  or  will 
have  occasion  to  look  at  these  papers  will  fail  to 
know  what  'sugar-coated'  means."  The  words  were 
not  erased. 

Mr.  Chase,  who  was  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
was  one  of  the  hardest  problems  with  which  Lincoln 
had  to  deal,  but  he  recognized  his  ability  and  put 
up  with  a  great  deal  of  back  talk  from  Mr.  Chase. 
Mr.  Chase  had  the  presidential  bee  buzzing  in  his 
bonnet,  in  fact,  there  must  have  been  a  whole  hive 
of  them  from  the  amount  of  noise  they  made,  and 
Chase  had  no  sooner  been  inducted  into  office  than 
he  began  to  shape  things  so  that  he  would  be  nomi- 
nated four  years  thereafter  to  succeed  Lincoln.  The 
friends  of  Lincoln  did  not  admire  the  stand  that  the 
President  took  for  they  felt  that  he  should  know 
what  Chase  was  doing.  They  did  not  imagine  that 
he  knew  every  step  Chase  was  taking  and  what 
was  in  Chase's  mind.  At  one  time  there  was  a 
delegation  that  went  to  Lincoln  and  told  him  what 
Chase  was  doing.  Lincoln  listened  quietly  and 
then  said:  "Gentlemen,  that  puts  me  in  mind  of 
a  story.  Out  west  there  was  a  man  who  was  known 
as  a  hen-pecked  husband,  and  the  neighborhood 
witnessed  the  wife  of  this  husband  giving  her  hus- 
band a  whipping.  The  man  took  it  very  quietly,  got 
out  of  the  way  and  went  down  town.  Those  who 
had  witnessed  the  affair  felt  very  much  put  out 
with  the  man  who  would  stand  by  and  allow  his 

38 


wife  to  thus  treat  him,  and  they  went  to  him  and 
said:  'Mr.  Blank,  we  have  no  respect  for  you  when 
you  will  allow  such  things  as  that.  Why  don't 
you  take  your  own  part  like  a  man  and  not  allow 
your  wife  to  thus  treat  you?'  The  husband  turned 
around  to  the  friends  and  said:  'Well,  boys,  it 
didn't  hurt  me  a  bit  and  you  have  no  idea  what  a 
power  of  good  it  does  Mary  Ann.'  And  so,"  said 
Lincoln,  "it  is  with  Chase.  It  don't  hurt  me  any 
and  it  does  Chase  a  power  of  good." 

During  the  trying  days  of  '61,  '2  and  '3  Lincoln's 
heart  was  heavy  for  he  knew  the  fate  of  the  nation 
hung  upon  his  shoulders.  He  also  knew  that  the 
slaves  on  the  southern  fields  were  looking  for  a 
Moses  to  deliver  them  out  of  bondage.  Their 
prayers  were  uttered  in  the  cabins  and  in  the  cotton- 
fields,  and,  as  the  "Quaker"  poet  has  so  well  por- 
trayed : 

"We  pray  de  Lord,  He  gib  us  signs 

Dat  some  day  we  be  free! 
De  norf  winds  tell  it  to  de  pines, 

De  wild  duck  to  de  sea. 
We  tink  it  when  de  church  bells  ring! 

We  dream  it  in  de  dream, 
De  rice  bird  mean  it  when  he  sing! 

De  eagle  when  he  scream." 

Prayers  were  said  by  thousands  of  good  men  and 
women  that  out  of  the  curse  of  war  would  come  the 
blessedness  of  freedom.  Lincoln  made  a  vow  to 
God  that  if  a  certain  event  happened  he  would  free 

39 


the  slaves,  and,  in  obedience  to  that  vow,  on  the 
1st  day  of  January,  1863,  Lincoln  proved  that  the 
pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword,  for  he  struck  the 
shackles  from  three  million  slaves  and  the  din  of 
the  clanking  of  the  shackles  when  they  fell  to  the 
ground  was  heard  around  the  world,  across  the 
prairies  of  the  west  to  .the  peaks  of  the  Rockies, 
which,  like  a  mast  of  a  wireless  telegraph  station, 
received  the  message  and  thence  it  was  wafted  to 
the  isles  of  the  sea  and  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth,  blended  with  the  music  of  the  spheres 
and  died  away  upon  the  shoreless  sea  of  humanity. 
Then  the  poor  slaves  heard  the  refrain  of  the  angelic 

host: 

"Peace  on  earth,  good  will  toward  men." 


/Lincoln  7 

The  Martyr  J 


The  Martyr 

Illinois  had  furnished  a  man  who  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  nation  and  Lincoln  turned  to  Illinois 
for  help  and  he  called  to  his  aid  for  the  highest  post 
of  honor  in  the  army,  Ulysses  S.  Grant.  Grant  had 
no  sooner  taken  charge  of  the  armies  than  he  brought 
order  out  of  chaos  and  the  persistent  hammering 
towards  peace  was  pursued  and  Lincoln  knew  that 
peace  would  be  the  result,  but  so  it  is  with  many 
who  prosecute  a  noble  deed,  who  perform  a  great 
act,  who  lay  out  a  work;  they  are  struck  down  as 

40 


it  is  about  to  be  consummated.     The  veil  is  lifted 
and  Lincoln  is  permitted  to  peer  into  the  future, 
beyond  its  portals,  and  he  sees  on  the  distant  horizon 
that  the  end  is  drawing  near.     Richmond  had  sur- 
rendered, and  under  the  famous  apple-tree  at  Appo- 
mattox, Lee  had  laid  down  his  arms  at  the  feet  of 
the  "silent  Commander."     People  were  rejoicing  all 
over  the  north,  the  soldiers  on  the  march  towards 
the  Capitol  received  their  laurels  and  were  singing 
hymns  of  joy,  and  amidst  the  singing,  the  shouts 
and   the   glorification   of   a   reunited   country,   the 
assassin  steps  from  out  of  the  dungeon  and  strikes 
the  fatal  blow,  and  he  whom  the  nation  had  honored, 
whom  the  nation  had  loved,   lay   cold   in   death. 
On  that  15th  day  of  April,  1865,  as  the  sun  rose  out 
of  the  far  east  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  it  cast  its 
beams  across  the  lifeless  body  of  our  beloved  Presi- 
dent.    It  was  then  that  the  country  was  wrapped 
in  mourning,  and  from  every  altar  all  over  the  land 
prayers  were  offered  up  to  the  Almighty  to  help 
the  nation  in  its  dark  hour.     The  true  and  noble 
men  of  the  press  who  had  stood  by  the  President 
in  their  editorials,  found  it  a  hard  task  to  tell  the 
people  what  was  in  their  hearts.     Our  own  beloved 
Dr.    Seiss,   in   St.    John's  Lutheran  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, preached  a  sermon  on  the  day  of  national 
mourning  and  chose  for  his  text  Deuteronomy  33, 
7  and  8:     "And  Moses  was  an  hundred  and  twenty 
years  old  when  he  died.     His  eyes  were  not  dim 

41 


nor  his  natural  force  abated.  And  the  children 
of  Israel  wept  for  Moses  on  the  plains  of  Mohab 
thirty  days." 

[Garfield  in  his  eulogy  of  Lincoln  said,  "When 
Lincoln  died  heaven  was  brought  so  close  to  earth 
that  the  whispering  of  the  angels  was  heard  by  the 
children  of  men.*^ 

One  of  the  greatest  editorials  that  was  written 
on  the  death  of  Lincoln  was  written  by  Daniel 
Willard  Fiske,  who  was  then  editor  of  the  Syracuse, 
New  York,  Daily  Journal,  and  within  half  an  hour 
after  the  news  had  been  flashed  over  the  wires  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  dead,  he  wrote  the  following 
editorial : 

"Slavery  and  treason  have  demanded  of  the  Ameri- 
can republic  a  great  and  final  sacrifice.  For  four 
mournful  years,  on  the  battlefield  and  in  the  hospital, 
she  has  poured  out  the  noble  blood  of  her  brave 
children  and  offered  up  the  precious  lives  of  her 
patriot  citizens.  But  a  sacrifice  of  blood  still  more 
noble,  of  a  life  still  more  precious,  was  needed  to 
make  the  oblation  complete.  This  last,  this  fear- 
ful offering  has  now  been  laid  upon  the  nation's 
reeking  altar.    Abraham  Lincoln  is  dead. 

"The  shaper  of  the  republic's  destiny,  he  was 
murdered  on  the  day  when  that  destiny  was  finally 
moulded  in  the  matrix  of  truth  and  justice.  The 
savior  of  the  republic's  life,  he  yielded  up  his  own 
just  as  the  republic's  existence  was  forever  secured. 

42 


The  Commander-in-chief  of  our  long-battling  armies, 
he  sank  in  death  at  the  very  moment  when 
those  armies  had  achieved  a  lasting  triumph. 

"In  him  was  typified,  more  than  ever  before  in 
any  single  individual,  the  cause  of  human  liberty, 
and  he  perished  in  the  hour  which  saw  that  cause 
victorious.  He  so  guided  the  course  of  events  that 
out  of  the  bitterness  of  slavery  a  whole  race  entered 
into  the  blessedness  of  freedom,  and  he  passed  out 
of  the  world  while  the  clanking  echoes  of  the  chains 
which  he  had  broken  had  not  yet  died  away.  Through 
a  night  of  storm  and  terror  he  steered  the  trembling 
ship  of  state,  and  when  the  morning  dawned  upon 
the  vessel,  sailing  with  its  costly  freight  through  a 
placid  sea,  the  hand  that  had  saved  it  became  power- 
less. Who  shall  say  that  since  that  other  good 
Friday,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  when  murder- 
ous men  struck  at  the  existence  of  Divinity  itself, 
a  riper  life  has  been  ended  by  a  fouler  blow? 

''The  universal  signs  of  sorrow  attest  the  depth 
and  breadth  of  the  people's  grief.  The  saddened 
nation  clothes  itself  in  black.  The  church  bells 
toll  a  requiem  which  makes  the  sorrow-laden  air 
still  heavier.  Sable  festoons  adorn,  with  gloomy 
decoration,  our  streets  and  squares.  The  minds 
of  men  are  filled  with  a  woe  which  the  death  of  a 
father  or  brother  could  not  have  evoked.  But 
there  is  a  mourning  still  more  appropriate  to  the 
occasion  than  these  outer  signs  of  inner  feelings. 

43 


Let  us  mourn  the  dead  President  by  being  worthy 
of  his  greatness.  Let  us  resolve  that  the  Hberty 
which  he  saved  shall  never  again  be  lost,  that  the 
fetters  which  he  sundered  shall  never  again  be 
joined,  that  the  Union  which  he  restored  shall  never 
again  be  broken.  Let  us  live  for  human  rights 
as  he  lived;  let  us  die  for  them,  if  need  be,  as  he  died. 

"The  great  republic's  head  is  gone;  the  great 
republic's  heart  is  broken.  God  help  the  great 
republic." 

Illinois  had  given  to  the  nation  a  man  whom  the 
nation  honored,  and  the  nation,  to  show  its  grati- 
tude, took  charge  of  the  remains  of  our  beloved 
President,  conveyed  them  with  tender  hands  back 
to  his  adopted  state,  and  in  the  city  of  Springfield, 
which  he  had  left  five  years  before  when  he  bade 
his  fellow  citizens  an  affectionate  farewell,  he  was 
buried.  There  his  shrine  is  visited  by  thousands 
who  stand  near  his  remains  with  uncovered  heads, 
feeling  that  they  are  in  the  presence  of  the  dust  of 
the  greatest  of  all  Americans. 

Today,  as  we  are  celebrating  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  let  us 
consider  the  price  of  his  success,  let  us  emulate  his 
example  of  honesty,  integrity  and  devotion. 

Young  women,  young  men,  what  will  your  answer 
be  when  it  is  asked  of  you  what  is  the  price  of  your 
success?  The  price  of  the  success  of  your  preceptors 
is  not  to  be  reckoned  in  dollars  and  cents  for  the 

44 


price  of  the  success  of  the  teaching  profession  is 
friendship  for  humanity  and  sacrifice  for  others. 
Will  you  place  your  success  on  the  basis  on  which 
we  place  Lincoln's  success  today,  or  will  you  place 
your  success  on  the  basis  of  dollars  and  cents?  Will 
you  in  your  life  work  follow  the  precepts  of  Lincoln 
and  pluck  a  thistle  and  plant  a  flower  where  you 
think  a  flower  would  grow  in  order  to  make  the 
world  better  for  your  having  lived  in  it?  If  you 
follow  the  precepts  of  Lincoln,  and,  like  him,  put 
your  fellow  men  above  self,  and  country  above  all, 
then  when  the  question  is  asked,  what  is  the  price 
of  your  success,  the  answer  will  be  found  on  the 
pages  of  your  life,  Friendship  for  Humanity  and 
Sacrifice  for  Others. 

As  Lincoln  made  history  so  we,  too,  are  making 
history  by  honoring  his  memory,  and  as  we  today 
know  the  truth  of  the  sentiment  uttered  by  Lowell 
so  will  succeeding  generations  know  the  truth  of 
Lowell's  commemoration  ode,  and,  like  us,  will 
repeat  the  lines: 

"Great  captains,  with  their  guns  and  drums, 

Disturb  our  judgment  for  the  hour, 
But  at  last  silence  comes; 

These  all  are  gone,  and,  standing  like  a  tower, 
Our  children  shall  behold  his  fame, 

The  kindly,  earnest,  brave,  foreseeing  man, 
Sagacious,  patient,  dreading  praise,  not  blame. 

New  birth  of  our  new  soil,  the  first  American." 


45 


LETTERS  REFERRED  TO 
IN  FOREWORD 


From  Dr.  E.  F.  Bartholomew,  Professor  of  English  Literature, 
Augustana  College  and  Theological  Seminary. 

Rock  Island,  Illinois,  February  13,  1911. 

Dear  Friend:  I  desire  to  acknowledge  with  sincere  thanks 
the  receipt  of  brochure  bearing  the  title,  "Abraham  Lincoln, 
His  Friendship  for  Humanity  and  Sacrifice  for  Others," 
with  compliments  of  the  author.  I  wish  also  to  congratulate 
you  upon  the  address  itself  and  upon  the  very  neat  and  attract- 
ive form  in  which  it  is  gotten  up.  It  is  a  contribution  to  our 
Lincoln  literature  that  does  the  subject  credit  and  is  an 
honor  to  the  author. 

From  R.  C.  Clarke,  Deputy  County  Clerk,  Rock  Island,  Illinois. 

February  15,  1911. 
In  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  beautiful  copy  of  your 
address  on  "Abraham  Lincoln,  His  Friendship  for  Humanity 
and  Sacrifice  for  Others,"  I  desire  to  express  my  sincere  thanks, 
with  the  assurance  of  its  hearty  appreciation  by  myself  and 
family;  and  allow  me  to  congratulate  you  on  your  able 
portrayal  of  the  characteristics  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

From  Marshall  Beck,  Moline,  Illinois. 

February  16,  1911. 

Dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  I  have  today  received  the  autograph 
copy  of  your  excellent  address,  at  Augustana  College,  on 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  am  much  pleased  to  have  this  token 
of  your  personal  regards.  You  must  derive  great  pleasure 
from  your  special  studies  and  collections,  touching  the  life 
and  services  of  this  man. 


From  year  to  year  I  am  surprised  and  moved  by  the  widen- 
ing and  deepening  appreciation  of  this  clear  visioned  and 
high-souled  personality.  Aside  from  the  lingering,  sectional 
bitterness  of  the  old  South,  he  seems  to  have  been  given  a 
place  among  the  noblest  few  in  the  whole  history  of  man; 
and  the  end  is  not  yet,  for  out  of  the  abiding  undertone  easily 
found  in  the  written  record  of  his  mental  and  moral  convic- 
tions he  will  be  quoted,  reverently,  as  a  seer  in  economic 
reform,  as  he  has  been  and  is  quoted  in  political  reform. 
The  fundamental  in  his  great  character  was,  I  feel  persuaded, 
the  instinctive,  ethical  demand,  from  the  State,  of  full  economic 
justice  to  every  human  creature — man,  woman  and  child; 
as  through  government  of,  for  and  by  the  people  and  this  is 
the  higher  measure  of  the  statesmanship — the  whole  case  of 
human  ethics  and  of  the  application  of  "property  in  man," 
the  primary  and  coarser  form  of  slavery,  appealed  to  him 
only  as  a  beginning.  I  am  sure  that  time  and  economic  evo- 
lution will  reveal  him  as  more  serenely  "upraised,"  in  mind 
and  soul,  than  our  sordid  age  is  capable  of  perceiving.  So, 
you  see  how  much  and  how  earnestly  I  congratulate  you 
upon  your  selection  of  a  "Patron  Saint,"  and  upon  your  diUgent 
and  loyal  service  to  his  name  and  memory. 

From  H.  B.  Hayden,  Superintendent  of  Schools. 

Rock  Island,  Illinois,  February  17,  1911. 

Dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  I  have  received  the  copy  of  your 
"Abraham  Lincoln,"  and  wish  to  thank  you  for  your  courtesy 
in  remembering  me  with  a  copy,  and  to  express  the  pleasure 
I  have  had  in  reading  it.  You  have  made  it  an  excellent 
story  dehghtfully  told. 

From  E.  O.  Randall,  Supreme  Court  Reporter,  Ohio. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  February  18,  1911. 

My  dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  In  this  morning's  mail  I  found 
the  beautiful  copy  of  your  splendid  address  on  Abraham 
Lincoln.  I  could  not  wait  for  a  leisure  hour  to  peruse  it  but 
have  read  it  through  slowly  and  carefully  and  have  just  laid 
it  down.  It  is  a  most  worthy  tribute  to  the  greatest  of  all 
subjects  and  must  have  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression 


upon  the  audience  of  students  and  their  friends  before  whom 
it  was  delivered.  You  certainly  have  a  thorough  appreciation 
of  the  great  heart  and  incomparable  brain  of  our  martyred 
President. 

I  want  to  thank  you  very,  very  much,  first  for  remembering 
me,  and  second,  for  the  pleasure  it  has  given  me.  I  shall 
place  it  among  the  honor-books  in  my  library  and  read  it 
to  my  two  boys. 

From  Dr.  C.  W.  Foss,  Professor  of  History,  Augustana  College 
and  Theological  Seminary. 

Rock  Island,  Illinois,  February  18,  1911. 

Dear  Friend:  Please  accept  my  thanks  for  a  copy  of  your 
address  on  Lincoln,  delivered  at  Augustana  College,  February 
12,  1909. 

I  have  read  it  with  real  enjoyment.  It  is  a  true  and  faithful 
picture  of  the  great  Lincoln.  It  is  remarkably  complete  for 
the  short  space  of  an  address,  and  at  the  same  time  it  contains 
a  great  deal  of  interesting  detail  not  often  found  in  addresses. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  your  success  and  once  again 
thank  you  for  the  gift  and  for  your  kind  remembrance  of  me. 

From  F.  G.  Blair,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

Springfield,  Illinois. 

Dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  I  want  to  thank  you  for  a  copy  of  your 
address  on  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  is  a  good  presentation  and 
printed  in  fine  form. 

From  Julia  Mills  Dunn,  Moline,  Illinois. 

February  20,  1911. 

My  dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  I  want  to  thank  you  for  the  exquisite 
little  booklet  you  sent  me,  and  to  express,  if  only  words 
could  do  so,  my  appreciation  of  the  beauty  of  the  work  itself. 

It  furnishes  besides  a  silent,  if  unintentional,  rebuke  to 
the  frivolity  of  the  times,  when  a  busy,  professional  man 
devotes  the  leisure  usually  expended  on  golf  and  pink  teas 
in  work  that  not  only  dignifies,  uplifts  and  ennobles  life 
for  himself,  but  will  confer  a  benefit  on  the  generations  to 
come. 


From  Mrs.  Mary  Stephens  Huntoon. 

Moline,  Illinois,  February  21,  1911. 

My  dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  I  heard  of  your  Abraham  Lincoln 
speech  at  Augustana  College  and  I  am  most  happy  to  own  a 
copy  of  it.  It  is  very  attractive  and  a  most  welcome  addition 
to  my  Lincoln  history.  I  wish  the  boys  and  girls  of  our 
Moline  schools  could  hear  it. 

Tomorrow  our  Daughters  of  The  American  Revolution 
celebrate  Washington's  birthday;  another  year  I  hope  we  may 
give  the  same  honor  to  Lincoln;  the  value  of  a  good  life  can 
never  be  estimated;  the  influence  goes  on  and  on. 

From  Rev.  R,  B.  Williams,  former  pastor  of  Methodist  Church, 
Rock  Island,  Illinois, 

Normal,  Illinois,  February  22,  1911. 

I  thank  you  very  much  for  a  copy  of  your  splendid  address 
on  Abraham  Lincoln,  delivered  at  Augustana  College, 
February  12,  1909.  I  have  read  every  word  of  it  with  great 
pleasure  and  profit.  Your  delineation  of  the  great  patriot's 
character,  as  well  as  the  brief  review  of  his  life,  will  be  an 
inspiration  to  the  young  manhood  of  our  day. 

The  printer  must  have  done  his  best,  as  the  mechanical 
work  is  elegant.  I  shall  prize  the  little  volume  very  much, 
not  only  for  its  substantial  value,  but  also  for  the  high  regard 
in  which  I  hold  the  author. 

From  J.  O.  Cunningham,  a  contemporary  of  Lincoln. 

Urbana,  Illinois,  February  22,  1911. 

My  dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  I  have  received  your  "Abraham 
Lincoln,"  and  need  hardly  assure  you  that  before  I  slept 
I  had  read  the  entire  paper.  I  am  sure  that  everyone  who 
thus  reads  it  must  be  as  much  interested  as  I  was.  It  presents 
some  of  the  many  phases  of  that  wonderful  character  most 
clearly  and  definitely.    I  thank  you  for  so  remembering  me. 

From  Rev.  Ira  0.  Nothstein,  my  pastor. 

Rock  Island,  Illinois,  February  23,  1911. 
Dear  Friend:  Ever  since  last  week  I  have  been  trying  to 
find  a  few  minutes  spare  time  to  sit  down  and  write  you  a 


note  of  thanks  for  your  kindness  in  sending  me  the  elegantly 
printed  address  on  Abraham  Lincoln,  which  I  also  had  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  you  deliver. 

I  certainly  appreciate  your  kindness  in  remembering  me 
in  this  way.  The  address  itself  is  a  fine  character  study  of 
Lincoln,  and  the  pamphlet  is  a  little  gem  of  the  printer's 
art.  I  shall  treasure  this  as  I  have  your  former  pamphlet 
on  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  address. 


From  Hon.  Clark  E.  Carr,  Galesburg,  Illinois. 

February  24,  1911. 

I  like  your  address  on  Lincoln  delivered  at  his  centennial 
which  I  have  just  read  over  again.  Your  address  is  finely 
written  and  beautifully  printed.  I  hope  that  Augustana 
College  appreciated  it  as  did  I. 


From  W.  S.  Matthews,  Ass't.  Adjutant  General,  Department 
of  Ohio,  G.  A.  R. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  February  28,  1911. 

Copy  of  your  address  on  Lincoln  has  been  received.  I 
want  to  thank  you  for  it.  I  have  read  it  with  a  great  deal 
of  pleasure  and  profit. 

You  are  to  be  congratulated  on  telling  the  story  of  Lincoln's 
life  and  character,  in  brief,  in  so  impressing  and  pleasing  a 
manner. 

Abraham  Lincoln  is  a  wonderful  theme  to  talk  about  or 
write  about.  He  seems  to  me  to  be  the  most  unexplainable 
man  in  all  history,  at  least,  in  our  American  life.  I  simply 
cannot  account  for  him  by  any  process  of  reasoning  from 
general  principles.  The  least  schooling  yet  the  most  educated. 
The  poorest,  yet  the  richest.  The  least  pretentious,  yet  the 
most  resourceful.  The  homliest,  yet  the  most  fascinating. 
The  commonest  of  men,  yet  all  pay  deference  to  his  dignity 
and  nobility.  He  inherited  the  least  promising  future,  yet 
no  man  ever  lived  that  has  left  to  future  a  legacy  so  great. 
A  most  remarkable  character  and  he  grows  more  remarkable 
as  time  passes. 


From  J.  A.  Burlingame,  Palatine,  Illinois. 

March  4,  1911. 

Dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  On  my  return  from  the  West  I  find  on 
my  desk  "Abraham  Lincoln,  His  Friendship  for  Humanity, 
an  address  by  J.  B.  Oakleaf."  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much 
I  appreciate  it.  It  is  one  more  of  the  courtesies  with  which 
you  have  favored  the  writer  in  the  years  I  have  known  you. 

I  cannot  help  feehng  that  in  your  admiration  and  study 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  you  are  emulating  many  of  the  qualities  you 
so  aptly  describe  in  your  address. 

From  Chas.B.  Reed,  Collector  of  Lincolniana,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

March  7,  1911. 

My  dear  Mr  Oakleaf:  I  received  a  few  days  ago  a  most 
beautiful  Lincoln  item,  with  the  kind  regards  of  J.  B.  Oakleaf. 
I  assure  you  I  greatly  appreciate  your  kindness. 

I  want  to  congratulate  you  on  your  splendid  composition 
and  title,  "His  Friendship  for  Humanity  and  Sacrifice  for 
Others,"  it  would  be  hard  for  me  to  find  in  all  of  my  Lincoln 
items  in  ten  times  as  much  space  as  you  occupy  in  your  limited 
forty-five  pages,  as  much  good,  clear  cut,  plain  English  Lincoln 
information. 

The  printing,  paper  and  binding,  I  do  not  see  how  it  would 
be  possible  to  improve  upon. 

Again  I  thank  you  for  this  beautiful  memento. 

From    Miss    Caroline     M.     Mcllvaine,    Librarian    Chicago 
Historical  Society. 

April  18,  1911. 

My  dear  Mr.  Oakleaf:  Your  handsome  book  containing 
Augustana  address  on  Lincoln,  reached  me  Saturday,  and 
seems  to  me  in  every  way  a  credit  to  its  author  and  to  the 
subject.  I  am  much  gratified  to  have  a  copy  for  my  own 
collection. 


N 


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